President Tsakhiagiin
Elbegdorj has been described as the "Ambassador for Mongolia" by local
journalists for his ability to spread awareness of the country’s growing
democracy abroad. He turned a social guffaw captured in September 22, 2011,
where his face was obscured by President Barack Obama’s hand during a group
photo of democratic leaders taken at the UN Democracy Forum,
into a humorous press conference moment. Yet during the conclusion of
that same press conference, Mongolia’s president side-stepped questions from
the Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Center (SMHRIC) about the
country’s official stance toward asylum seekers
from Inner Mongolia, an autonomous region of the People’s Republic of China
regarding the deportation of Batzangaa October of 2009.

While the presenter
let it go, Enghebatu Togochog, director of the SMHRIC, has not. He
spoke with Asian Correspondent from the office headquarters in NYC by phone
and said the Mongolian government has a long history of deporting asylum
seekers from Inner Mongolia. "They are in a honeymoon with China."

However,
Julian Dierkes,
a policy expert from the Institute of Asian Research, told Asian
Correspondent that the situation is more complicated. "The
conventional discussion of asylum would be to see it as a power play by
China. Obviously, the Chinese government would not be too keen on Mongolia
granting asylum to Inner Mongolian dissidents. On the other hand, if such
dissidents gain any prominence, Mongolian politicians may be hard pressed to
turn them down."

Batzangaa, perhaps the
most controversial case to date, is an ethnic Mongolian doctor of
traditional medicine from the city of Ordos in Inner Mongolia, whose
situation was brushed off by the president of Mongolia during the press
conference in 2011. Enghebatu said Batzangaa was deported from
Ulaanbaatar by Mongolian and Chinese police with the help of UNHCR.

Batusukhe, the younger
brother of Batzangaa who is now seeking asylum himself in Mongolia, fully
supports this claim. Batusukhe met with Asian Correspondent in a
popular coffee shop in Ulaanbaatar and explained how his brother came to be
known as a "Chinese" dissident.

Batzangaa, a Chinese
citizen, founded the Ordos Mongol-Tibetan Medical School in Inner Mongolia
in 2001 with the full blessing of the Chinese government in support of
ethnic heritage. He studied traditional Tibetan-Mongolian
medicine in the Qinghai province of China, which is home to a sizable
population of Tibetans. After completing his studies, the brother
returned to his province in Inner Mongolia as "the diaspora were sent to
establish a school" said Batusukhe. As the school was successful, in
2007 he asked the government of Dongsheng District permission to expand.
On April 19 of that year, the government approved his request and 5.2
million CNY was invested towards this based on donations from the Inner
Mongolian community.

However, after the
Tibetan uprisings in March 2008 across Tibetan-populated areas in the
Qinghai, Gansu and Sichuan provinces, the school fell under suspicion for
its strong ties to the region. Mongolians share a nomadic and Buddhist
history with Tibetans of revering the Dalai Lama.

Dierkes said "the
Chinese government isn’t threatened by pan-mongolism [a political movement
to join Inner Mongolians with the country of Mongolia]—not like they are
threatened with Tibetans. The Chinese government encourages traditional
practices—unless they get a whiff of trouble."

This whiff of trouble
led to swift action on the behalf of the Chinese government as just three
months after the unrest, the lease to Batzangaa’s school was cancelled on
June 20, 2008. He fought back and appealed to the government based on
the prior official approval and recouped a portion of the investment losses
but was subsequently pressured to cut ties with the Tibetan community.
According to Batusukhe, he refused, claiming he had done nothing wrong.
When he received death threats by text message, he fled with his family to
Mongolia on May 26, 2009 to seek political asylum.

He registered with the
UNHCR in Ulaanbaatar and was given four months of protection beginning June
27 as his case was reviewed. Before his protection status had expired,
Batzangaa was asked to come to the UNHCR office by his protection officer,
where he was arrested October 3, 2009 by Mongolian and Chinese police.
Batusukhe showed Asian Correspondent copies of his brother’s forms, also
published by the SMHRIC.
The following day he was deported with his family back to China and placed
under house arrest.

Batusukhe is
disappointed with UNHCR: "Why did this happen? He had a
certificate of alien registration and this had not expired yet. I want
to know from the head of UNHCR Geneva why they let this happen."

The Mongolian
government has not signed the 1951 Refugee Convention or agreed to protect
asylum-seekers. The regional UNHCR office in Beijing states through
its website that it
is "advising the Government…in anticipation of accession to the Convention."
A UNHCR spokesperson in Ulaanbaatar told Asian Correspondent they
recommended signing the convention during the Universal Periodic Review and
the government agreed to "consider" it. However when asked, a
spokesperson at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said they did not know any
details.

While studying at a
university in Japan Batusukhe became politically active, lobbying for ethnic
Mongolian rights in China. "My brother did not tell me to join.
It was my own choice." As political activism is illegal under China’s
one-party system, this choice also brands him a dissident.

Batusukhe has also
applied for asylum status with UNHCR in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia and is
registered from March 12, 2013 for a period of one year according to his
official resident card. Just one month after he applied for asylum,
his brother was arrested by the Chinese government on April 13 for allegedly
seeking asylum with a foreign embassy in Guangzhou, which violated the terms
of his house arrest. Since that time, the family has had limited
contact and is worried about
his safety.

While appreciating
having a place to live in Mongolia as a registered asylum-seeker, Batusukhe
said he does not feel safe because he thinks the Chinese police can take him
"anytime," like his brother.

Xinhua News
Agency reported that Batazagaa had embezzled money from his community,
noting the Mongolian government had supported
his repatriation. However, both the SMHRIC and Batusukhe refute
allegations of criminal activity and said this came only after he had
refused to break his connections with the Tibetan community.

Where Batzangaa was
repeatedly advised to not seek out foreign media while under asylum-seeking
status, Batusukhe has learned from his brother’s experience and would like
the world to know Mongolians living in China are treated by their government
when they embrace their cultural roots in a manner officially condoned by
China’s constitution.

There are three other
Inner Mongolians seeking asylum in the country, including Tuvsingzaya who
has a wife and two children whose asylum-seeking status expires in August.
He asks "Why does it [the asylum process] have to take so long?"

If President Elbegdorj
is re-elected on June 26th, he might consider promoting an over-haul on the
Mongolian government’s stance toward asylum-seekers from Inner Mongolia.

About the author

Michelle Tolson has
contributed to Inter Press Service (IPS), the Global Post, Women’s Media
Center, Women’s International Perspective, Women’s News Network, the UB
Post of Mongol News Group and the Phnom Penh Post. She has also worked on
research projects in New York City and Cambodia.